Session 8: Governments role in formulating political culture.

Political socialization is the process by which individuals acquire political beliefs and attitudes. The interaction an individual has in his external environment has a major impact on the formation of individual opinion. However the Government of the country plays an active role in influencing and restricting this interaction.

As the mass media is most influential in formulating political culture nowadays, the government exercises control over what is being delivered to the masses by censoring content as well as controlling ownership of media. This regulation not only limits what is being viewed by the general public but also forms a political culture similar to what was intended by the government through the means of restrictions.

Similarly, control over civic education including curriculum of schools and education departments has a considerable impact on a student’s perception and political culture. An example could be making Pakistan studies and Islamiyat courses mandatory for students in Pakistan which develops a basic understanding among the students of a certain political culture as directed by the government.

Moreover, governments in the past have often been seen taking active measures to inculcate loyalty and allegiance among the youth in totalitarian and authoritarian regimes. The Nazis, for example, created the “Hitler Youth’ organization to instill fidelity to Adolf Hitler by the German youth during the Third Reich. This shows that government intervention and attempts to formulate political culture in their own favor is a concept used by previous as well as present governments as Shahbaz Shareef’s  Youth initiative has the similar aims to influence the public opinion developed.

Therefore, Governments play a role similar to that of an invisible hand in the economy, in order to manage conception of a political culture.